Ducati Multistrada V4 S test

The luxury tour guide 🙂

Having a rough start to Monday? Buy a Ducati Multistrada V4! You'll still be in a shit mood, but at least you'll have a good Ducati.

And then you'd just be thinking about how you're going to wash the proud GS society off the roads.

Because a Ducati Multistrada is a privilege. Especially a V4. A bike that won't be for just anyone. Even if it could do it financially, it still wouldn't have the guts. You'd rather buy a 1300 GS. It has its problems, but at least they're known.

Most people are afraid to change because they prefer the uncertainties of the unknown to the certain but familiar evils. I don't mean specific engines, but the way our brains work.

First impressions of the Ducati Multistrada V4 S

This Ducati is a huge surprise for me. The design is eye-catching, with a noble elegance. The materials used are of the highest quality. You can see that this bike has not yet fallen victim to the cheapening that is fashionable these days.

Every single component shows that it has been carefully designed and is in harmony with the rest of the engine. They didn't just throw it on. We're talking about a very well thought-out, carefully designed engine.

Equipment and electronics

As far as extras are concerned, it has about everything you could want in a top-of-the-range car these days. Electric chassis, cruise control, cornering lights, parking brake, wheelie control, cornering ABS and more.

Ducati does this so that the rider's attention is not diverted from riding and not wandering around in the sub-menus.

Digital display and usability

The digital display has a single screen, on which they have managed to put everything you need at once, in many small details, without you having to switch between them to see how many kilometres of range you have left or how many degrees it is.

You don't even have to search for the adjustment button in the menus to adjust the windscreen. Simply because it is not electric. Instead, it uses a mechanical solution that allows you to adjust it up or down with a single hand movement while driving.

Need more? Frankly, it's the most practical thing you can do.

Motor hill

But let's start the engine. The Ducati Multistrada V4 S I tested is a bit true, it's already been tricked out, so I don't know what it's like from the factory, but I assume it doesn't differ much.

So the engine starts and makes a loud crank to indicate that it's ready to go. And then every single person at the petrol station must be looking.

You won't miss this either. So you pull out, get on your white horse with noble elegance, give it a gas splash and drive off.

And you're grinning from ear to ear under your helmet, and you've only been on the road for three seconds.

What's it like to ride a Ducati Multistrada V4 S?

The engine is very, very responsive to acceleration. It is noticeably harder to pull the throttle. I thought about it later, maybe it's so you don't have that feeling when you hit a bump, your hand slips and you're blown sideways by the 170bhp.

This engine is so powerful that in 95% cases you won't really need it. Like when you replace the 3000cc V6 in your car with a 4000cc V8.

You know that you don't need that extra strength for anything, but you're still a notch cooler.

Touring or sport bike?

And it's a touring bike to begin with. You get on it, you load it up and you're out of the world. But if you're maximising every moment the bike's running, you can't concentrate for more than 1-2 hours a day. Or if you did, you'd have had your licence revoked.

Otherwise, this bike is about the same equipment level as the BMW 1300 GS Adventure. Somewhere, though, it feels like it's been deliberately positioned above it. V4 racing technology, top quality, luxury class, luxury pricing.

Ducati Multistrada V4 S vs BMW R 1300 GS

By the way, I have looked at where the difference comes up in terms of driving characteristics. The boxer accelerates better up to 150, but above 150 the Ducati leaves it far behind. Everyone draws their own conclusions. I was just looking at what the bike gives me :)))

Oh, but this one doesn't have an automatic transmission. 🙂 Obviously there is a high-speed gearbox, it will be standard on a V-Strom in 2025. But as for the quick shifter, you really have to go fast to like it.

Lighting and night riding

Now the lighting: the normal headlights are so perfectly lit at night that I could see better with them than with the high beam. That's commendable. Every bike should have one!

Weight, handling and slow manoeuvrability

According to the paper, the engine weighs somewhere around 245 kg. For us it was in the category of being heavy with sleeping bags, well packed.

On the motorway, the aerodynamics remained good, even at higher speeds it didn't dribble, but in slow speed situations it was not good.

Cretan test with hairpin bends and steep slopes

We took it to Crete to test it. There are many hairpin bends on the island, the top of which leads to the end of a steep slope, with a stop sign of course. Sometimes with an angle of inclination so steep that if you put your foot down in the wrong direction, you're almost guaranteed to tip over.

So you had to pay very close attention. Here I learned „don't stop at STOP signs for safety reasons”, just keep moving, even if it sounds stupid.

Later, when we were rolling out from fixed accommodation without side boxes, the bike was much easier to handle and didn't have that tendency to roll over.

Somehow I got the feeling that if I turn right at a sharp angle at a brisk pace, the front end tends to squeal. I had to put my foot down in two of these situations. Maybe it was due to the steep fork angle and the side boxes. So I was very careful about that from then on.

Strange beeping sound

Then there's one more thing I couldn't get past. When climbing hills, or when surrounded by a guardrail, a sharp whistling sound would echo back at a level well above the sustained endurance level.

I asked the Ducati shop what it was, but they didn't know. In fact, if you ride in Hungary in the Alföld you won't notice it, but if you go on a longer ride in the Alps you'll understand. If anyone knows what it could be, please let me know, because I haven't figured it out.

Not the driving wind, because it won't do it with the clutch engaged. But it is very loud between 4000-6000 rpm.

Friction: most likely caused by the resonance of the box system retrofitted to the engine, but not clear.

Reliability on a long trek

Now let's move on to the next critical point.

Reliability.

I drove the bike 2500 km in a week. Then the guy who brought it back from Crete did about that much more. The bike completed the 5,000 km trip without a sound.

There have never been any complications or error messages. Nothing came loose, nothing went wrong. So if you're worried that you won't make it to the next gas station in a Ducati, this is not the category for you!

The engine is very precisely assembled.

Touring with Ducati Multistrada V4 S

And what is it like for hiking?

Wind protection is super, perfect for high speed trapping even when loaded up. It was so easy to ride the bike on the serpentine and the bike remained extremely stable throughout.

It also has an extremely good chassis. Even though it has street wheel sizes, it took out the bugs in the road very, very nicely. But to tell you the truth, I'd still put it in the touring category, even if it is enduro in design.

Would it stand up?

I think it would even beat the field!

Strength and character

When I'd ridden it a long time and started to feel the engine, I said I'd give it a bit of a beating. In the range that I don't really rev it when I'm hiking.

When accelerating hard, the engine lifted the front wheel at 140 km/h. I tell you, that's a big one! This engine is sick!

Nevertheless, its design is such that it can be used in a very gentle and relaxed way, without getting into mischief at every moment. Well, in the touring category, that's a distinct advantage.

And the fact that you have this tremendous power underneath you is comforting just to know it. 🙂

Fuel consumption and range

Consumption? Lots. More than anything else in this category.

Factory range: 360 km.

How much did I drive until the next refuelling? About 220.

Who is the Ducati Multistrada V4 S for?

Is it a good decision to choose such an engine?

If you don't want to be the 100,000th GS on the road, but you want to ride in comfort and luxury, this is definitely for you.

Photos: Eszter Tokár